No Strings Attached
by MagnifiedSun
Summary: <html><head></head>A wooden puppet named Feliciano is given life and must prove himself worthy of being a real boy, but he's going to find it's not that easy. At least he's got some friends to help him out. This is for TheWonderBunny's Disney Mania Challenge!</html>
1. Wishing Stars

**No Strings Attached- Wishing Stars **

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><p><em>"When you wish upon a star<em>

_Makes no difference who you are_

_Anything your heart desires_

_Will come to you"_

Twilight had just set in on the small village. Yellows and oranges were being soaked into the scene like soup retreating inside a loaf of bread; weighing down the eyes of the people, conveniently in time for the night, and a small shaded figure was running down the emptying streets with a hatchet in hand. _Tap tap tap_. And a curse. _Tap tap tap_. And another curse. His footsteps were light, nimble and quick; but the frowning lips bitterly muttering profanity were very unbecoming of the young Italian, or at least that's what Antonio thought as he idly watched the younger boy racing up towards him. He chuckled to himself, realizing how the other's face ripened into a deep tomato red. Whether this flush was the result of admiration or rage; the Spaniard didn't know, but he sincerely hoped for it to be the former of the two. Unfortunately the cause was discovered to be the later as the winded Lovino threatened in between his heaving breaths, "Put down my _pant pant_… block of cherry, you _pant pant_… Spaintard!"

Antonio cocked his head to the side curiously and eased the ever present smile on his tanned face into a quizzical expression. He remained standing in silence as the boy exaggeratedly ran against his stretched violet shadow which beat him in reaching the entrance of the lumberyard. Lovino hunched over and greedily gulped several bountiful mouthfuls of hazy, warm air. After getting back up and sloppily composing himself; he simply pointed with his free hand, which was clammy with sweat and trembling lightly, at the piece of wood. Lazy emerald eyes dopily followed the pointing finger to the large wooden log cradled in his arms, and a surprised look spread across his face, unaware as to how such an object found its way into his possession. Then his brow creased, and after several moments of blatant thinking he triumphantly blinked as he reached a conclusion. During the time Antonio took to thoroughly think about the issue Lovino drew his free hand to his side, clenching it into a fist as his face managed in sizzling into a darker shade of red.

"_Sí_, I remember now, this log is for a leg of the table I'm making. Isn't it pretty? I found it stuck under some rocks by here, strange place for a log though." Antonio relayed in a happy tone despite the irritation his news sparked in Lovino, who was mentally kicking himself for bragging about the beautiful log to the town's oblivious carpenter apprentice. He had found it while out woodcutting with Antonio, fate had a cruel way of always finding opportunities to force him to spend time with the Spaniard, and decided to hide it until his father needed it. Tonight was such a night; usually the puppeteer would sneak out to go indulge himself on food, drink and women, but this evening Romulus Vargas was abnormally motivated to actually work. After the older boy finished the explanation with one of his signature clueless smiles the Italian defensively raised his hatchet and angrily shouted, "What the fuck, tomato bastard? That's my log! You've got no business in carving it up. Give it back, or I'll get the mafia on your ass!"

"Aw Lovi~! You don't need to use such language. If you wanted the log so badly, all you had to do was ask. But now it's going to cost you."

"Don't call me Lovi, it's Lovino, shithead! And you can't sell me something that's already mine, besides I don't have any money because of my lazyass dad."

"Calm down Lovi, I don't want money. Just a kiss"

"Fuck no, pedophile!"

"Wha-? But I'm only fifteen, and you're twelve so what's the big deal?"

"Shut up, it's still fucked up!"

"Then a hug"

He distastefully eyed Antonio, obviously suspicious of him, and reluctantly released an exhausted sigh after accessing the situation. Lovino knew the Spaniard well enough to know when to surrender to his bottomless density, and he lowered his hatchet, loosening his grip on it until the tool slipped out of his hand. A clang dully rang which was followed by a thud as the small axe fell onto the ground, its head first and then the handle. The young Italian tightly shut his amber eyes and cringed in preparation of what he expected to come. Lovino had been hugged by Antonio before, many times in fact, and could recite the entire procedure. Since this wasn't one of his ambush hugs, there was no need for Lovino to struggle or hit him while streaming a colorful array of curses. No. First there would be an instant of claustrophobia; when the free air around him would disappear, leaving only that foreign form against his own which proceeded to trap him with long arms wrapping around whatever was left. Next; a shiver resulting from the drastic difference in temperature would roll up his entire body, starting from the very tips of his toes and ending on the last strand of his hair. Antonio was always warmer than him; and as he remembered that fact, Lovino grimaced at the thought of additional heat to his already sweltering body. Then there would be a long moment where nothing happened, and he was forced to listen to the other's steady breathing. Finally; when Antonio would relax his hold, the Italian always quickly jerked himself away and ran as fast as he could.

But something was wrong; this time those steps weren't being executed at all, and when Lovino hesitantly cracked an eye open he found Antonio stubbornly stationed across, with the log sitting behind him on the ground, waiting for Lovino to hug him. He staggered back, appalled by the suggestion of him initiating the embrace, but his sight fell onto the prized block of cherry wood and mind wondered to the excitement of his normally lethargic father. And again another curse pushed its way through his gritted teeth, making a biting whisper. He slowly stepped forward and unsurely lifted his arms; then, after scanning the surrounding area for any bystanders, he enclosed them around the Spaniard. Lovino awkwardly pulled Antonio into the hug, and he noted that there wasn't an overwhelming heat as he had anticipated but an adaptive temperature to combat any fluctuations his presented. The loss of space and the chill from his previous experiences were still a part of the hug, but this time Lovino felt an undeniable urge to provide the steadfast breathing. He meticulously took in and expelled air, conscious of every action he performed, and it was only after a few long minutes of carrying out the repetitive task did Lovino realize that he had the power to end the hug. He hastily retracted his arms and backed away; sending Antonio into whiplash at the sudden movement, but the Spaniard still managed a smile in his dizzy state. However the grin was unable to endure a headbutt to the gut from a royally pissed off Italian. With a hand over his aching stomach; he watched the boy snatch the large log and run off, all the while wincing, but the only thing Antonio could think of as he listened to the Italian's cursing fade in the distance was.

'_Lovi's hugs are really nice, he should give them more often._'

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><p>The small creature sat patiently on the hanging sign of the puppeteer's workshop, which gently rocked on the wind's sighs. It was early into the night; with only a couple stars having opened their small eyes on the world below, and the insects still tuning up before beginning their evening concert. They were considerably late tonight. Speaking of tardiness; the Italian boy that lived in the shop hadn't come home yet, and this panged him with a hint of concern even though he thought it shouldn't have. The truth was that he'd been using the father and son: taking advantage of their home's warmth and stealing any spare scraps of food, because he was a cricket. A cricket named Kiku. And Kiku was a very strange cricket. He stood despite the wind; which tousled his short hair that was darker than the blackest of raven feathers and the thin, springy antennas sitting abruptly on top of his head. Besides those and his incredibly small size, there was nothing else that suggested he was anything else but human. The cricket had a face; a pale face with nondescript brown eyes, and he wore a long beige coat that covered whatever was underneath its torn form. He even identified himself as Japanese! But there was no time to contemplate about such things as Kiku bent down, about to leap from the top of the sign to start searching for the boy, a set of footsteps echoed from further down the dark street. He was relieved to soon see the small Italian enter the ring of flickering light given off by a candle in the window; Kiku swiftly ran into a tiny nook, right above where the sign was mounted, and navigated his way through the cramped, winding tunnel that eventually came out on the top of a shelf filled with clocks.<p>

"I'm hom-" Lovino began to announce as he carefully stepped into the shop, trying to balance his hatchet on top of the log he was carrying, and after the cheerful chime from the bell above the door he was knocked over by an enthusiastic hug from his father.

"Oh Lovi~! I was so worried, you're really late. You shouldn't make me worry like that!" The unusually handsome man cried while smothering the boy in his arms with affection, disregarding the dangerous objects his son was previously holding haphazardly falling onto the floor around them.

"It's Lovino! Lovino! You're the one who named me, I should expect at least for you to get it right… And get the fuck off of me, stupid! You're killing me" He struggled to choke out from in between the generous amount of kisses applied to his cheeks and the great weight pushing on his chest. Romulus then unwillingly freed him and dejectedly crawled away; after his short spell of despair the man picked up the wood he'd sent his son to fetch, starring at it in awe while Lovino stood and grabbed his little axe. He carefully returned the hatchet to its usual spot on the large workbench, smirking to himself on a job well done as his father continued adoring the log. The rough bark had been freshly hacked off, leaving a clean greenish tone that quickly diminished as the rings shrunk. With the tough skin gone the scent of forest flora seeped from its pores, mixing amid the abundant odors of various woods in the workshop air. The log was a bulky piece of wood that required anyone wishing to hold it to use both hands; yet a strange beauty surrounded the simple object, a sense that this was something truly special. Romulus Vargas somehow knew this instinctually; and his face grew serious with purpose as he turned to Lovino and breathed in an overwhelmed voice that immediately gained a confident morale, "_Sí_… _Sí_! This is it; this is going to be my masterpiece, the greatest work I've ever done. Lovi! Come help your _Papà_."

Lovino would have corrected Romulus about his name on any other occasion; but he guessed tonight was the only exception, since the man showed a great intent of actually working which earned a genuine smile from him as he nodded and retrieved their plain work aprons. Though they did not know it, there was an audience in their presence that watched them work with great interest. Since arriving at the shop; Kiku had never seen any woodwork done by Romulus, (He's seen the man do many other things, most of he'd rather not talk about.) but his waiting was well worth it for the chance to witness the man work at his trade. The father and son duo complimented one another quite nicely. Lovino was a vigilant pupil who took excruciating measures in order to gain new skills while mastering the old ones, sometimes his endeavors consisted of him using equipment he was unfamiliar with resulting in small cuts and bruises. Like the cut on the front of his hand he'd just received from the hasty use of a saw. Surprisingly Romulus turned out to be extremely devoted to the task at hand; his attention was constantly invested into what he was currently doing, going so far as to ignore everything else around him. However Lovino was perfectly content with this, he would just come in after his father and clean up any shavings and such that were neglected. Besides he preferred to learn through trial and error, which was fine by Romulus since he didn't offer to hold his hand through the process.

Busy sounds occupied the vicinity: saws tearing into the meat of the wood, hammers banging and tender sweeps scooping debris or smoothing the wood. In the midst of all the working noises neither Lovino nor Romulus spoke, except for the rare instances where one requested a tool from the other. Even when he injured himself, Lovino bit back any foul words that were exclaimed in his mind but produced only a low hiss. For a moment though Kiku could have sworn that a women's laughter fluttered above all of the commotion, her jovial giggling that echoed from every corner of the room went unnoticed by the two working. This phenomenon disturbed the insect and forced him into a terrible series of nervous shaking as his normally emotionless eyes, which were now trembling with anxiousness, darted from side to side. Despite the number of times he scanned and rescanned the room his survey yielded the same result every time, nothing. Then the laughter shifted from a cheerful laugh to one amused by Kiku's futile searching that began on a loud hearty note but eventually lost its vigor, until the voice faded away all together. Even after its departure he remained on edge for the rest of the night, his antennas twitching at every shuffle he caught from the corner of his peripheral vision.

A lot of time elapsed or at least it felt that way to him, before Kiku was calm enough to sit still and resume watching his hosts. Since his distraction by the mysterious women's interruption most of the marionette was miraculously completed. Its body was formed and limbs attached, making the puppet stand an inch or so shy of Lovino. In fact the resemblance it bore to the boy was uncanny and deemed downright creepy by the small Italian's disapproving frown. The puppet had a full head of auburn faux hair, cut similarly in the style of Lovino's but with its curl coming from the left side. Its eyes were the same color as his but somehow seemed brighter with the permanent smile etched onto its face. It even wore an old set of clothes once belonging to Lovino, which the Italian never touched though because he thought they'd prompt others to ridicule him. However he had to admit that the blue and white sailor outfit's innocent charm complimented the naïve nature the puppet presented, but besides that the thing seriously freaked him out! While Romulus steadily executed the final details he was painting on his creation; (He never allowed his son to assist him since he had no artistic talent.) Lovino angrily scoffed at him while sourly starring the marionette down, "This is your 'masterpiece'? It's just a damn copy and a fucking creepy one at that."

"Lovi! Watch that mouth of yours! Especially in front of Feliciano, he's young and very impressionable. Isn't that right, my little Feli~!" Romulus reprimanded sternly but lost any authority he may had built up as he snuggled his face against the puppet's mop of hair. Lovino simply looked on the sight with disbelief and to some extent shame as he asked.

"What the fuck is a Feli- whatever the hell you called it?"

"Lovi! What did I say about your language? …Anyway it's Feliciano. And he's not an it, he's your brother. Now come and say 'Hello' to your _fratello_" After trying his hand again at lecturing, he corrected his son in a condescending tone that suggested the facts he was teaching him were commonly known. Once his brief lesson was over; Romulus seemed to recover his upbeat attitude from the shock of Lovino's ignorance and began chasing him around, holding the marionette by its crossed handle. Of course Lovino gave only the natural response and ran about the workshop, dodging any contact with the wooden puppet.

"S-shit! Have you lost your fucking mind? Ah! Get that thing away from me!"

"Wha-what's wrong? I only did what you asked me to do."

"Oh yeah, and when did I ask you to make a creepy-ass puppet?"

"Not a puppet; a brother, remember? A really long time ago you'd always ask for a brother. Sorry it took so long, but this is all I can do. So… here" By then their chase had ended with the two standing on opposite ends of the workbench. And when Romulus finished speaking his voice could barely be heard, it had taken on such a quiet and solemn tone. Then he walked over to Lovino and lowered the marionette's handle; causing it to become limp, and he picked the puppet up, letting its legs and arms dangle in his cradling grip. He hesitated before offering his precious Feli to Lovino, who unsurely took it in his own arms and all of a sudden was flooded by distant memories of how he'd pester his father for a little brother and his imaginings of the playmate he dreamed of. Lovino then felt the urge to cry swell up in him; but he was successful in suppressing the reflex, denying its true source and convincing himself his eyes were just aggravated from the dust in the air. Romulus on the other hand could discern through his son's facade and had no problem bawling his eyes out on Lovino's shoulder as he nearly strangled him in another crushing embrace. Lovino then lost any desire he had to cry as it was washed away by a wave of rage, and he loudly scolded while wiggling in an attempt to liberate himself, "Stop your damn crying, bastard; it's pathetic! And you're ruining the puppet, not to mention my shirt."

"Ah! I'm so sorry Feli, here let_ Papà_ dry you off." Romulus ceased his sobbing and released Lovino as if he had some deadly disease, nearly throwing him across the room. But when he held out his hand; expecting Feliciano to be handed over only to be shocked as Lovino denied him the puppet, turning away when he presented his opened hands on the premise that the man would most likely bring more harm than good to it. Romulus practically fell into a depression; his heart shattered by betrayal at Lovino's impudence. But before the boy could defend his case there was a multitude of clicks clanking simultaneously and then a silent pause that signaled for every clock in the shop to go off. Every conceivable bell, chime, whistle and ring sounded off the ninth hour. Forgetting about this daily occurrence, Kiku unfortunately found himself in the midst of the chaos. Deafened by his close proximity to all of those alarming clocks he fell over and was unable to appreciate the mechanisms adorned on the clocks perform their programmed actions. This mismatched orchestra continued to loudly play its blaring and nonsensical song for an entire minute, but once the last note was obnoxiously tooted another series of clicking came. And the animatronics retired to their original, stationary positions. Then in the reacquired silence of the workshop, the cricket was able to hear properly again and staggered about as he stood up. Having failed to remember his sadness because of the clockwork spectacle; Romulus put a finger to the chin of his questioning face and asked, "Wonder what time it is?"

"Shit, you really are going senile… It's nine o' clock dumbass."

"Really? How can that be? I've never finished any project that quickly, and I'm _yawn_… already sleepy? Hm… oh well, okay Lovi! It's time for bed, and you too Feli~!" The man soon lost interest in the questions he asked; leaving them unanswered and instead happily seizing the marionette, ushering it to the bed he and Lovino shared. Romulus was promptly foiled by his son, who recaptured the stolen item and proceeded to yell at his dimwitted father.

"What kind of idiot are you? You can't bring a puppet into bed, it'll break! The puppet stays on the workbench, got it?"

"Aw Lovi"

The highly prized marionette was eventually placed on the table; and with that another frivolous dispute was ended, but Kiku couldn't help a small admiring smile from spreading on his face. Despite the father's absentmindedness and carefree nature and the dirtier than a street gutter language the son spewed; the dysfunctional family always was on good terms by the time they went to bed, and he found that endearing. The sparse candles scattered throughout the room were blown out, leaving the moon starring in the open window above their bed as the only light illuminating the room. Before dragging themselves off to their tempting bed; the weary two discarded the aprons slung over their necks, tossing them to the floor and shedding their clothing for appropriate nightwear which for them consisted of a long nightshirt each that went down to their knees. The bed creaked as Lovino crawled on; burrowing his way deep into a thick quilt, and it caught Romulus as he fell, face flat onto the blanketed surface. Kiku simply slipped out of his shoes, placed them neatly at the end of his matchbox bed and settled into the pile of tattered cloth pieces stuffed into the small box. Romulus then rolled off of his front and sleepily looked out of the unlocked window with glazed eyes in time to witness a shooting star. Seeing the white speck fly over the dark veil excited the man enough to cheerfully shout while bouncing childishly, "Look Lovi, look! It's a shooting star, hurry up and make a wish."

"No"

"But Lovi it's a shooting star. A shooting star! Who knows the next time this'll happen? It may never happen, c'mon Lovi you have to!" Romulus shouted in disbelief, poking and nagging Lovino to submit into joining him in the immature activity.

"Ugh... then I wish for you to stop calling me Lovi!" The irritated boy mumbled in a grouching mutter as he harshly pushed the blanket and his father off of him.

"That's just mean Lovi, and besides now that you've said it aloud it won't come true. But don't worry, you can try again. Now hurry up before it goes away" The man complained gloomily before regaining his optimistic zeal as he waved for his son to come up to the window with him. Lovino grudgingly trudged over to him and imitated the kneeling position Romulus had taken after he'd been throw. Then when he looked out of the window a splash of cool air hit him in the face; which would normally annoy him but didn't faze him whatsoever this time, since he was preoccupied with the star's brilliance. Distracted by its elegant tail following the glowing beckon itself, Lovino almost forgot to make a wish but was reminded by Romulus's fidgeting as he mentally debated what to ask for. After a hushed snicker the boy took his father's lead and folded his hands while making eye contact with the slowly moving star.

'_Let's see, a wish… a wish… Shit. I don't know what to wish for. Damn it! It's going away. Oh shit! I wish… I wish-_'

'_I wish for Feliciano to become a real boy!_'

...

"Phew! Made a wish just in time" Lovino quietly sighed as the star disappeared into the envelope of darkness.

"See, aren't you glad I got you out of bed? Alright now it's really time for sleep. _Buona Notte!_" After bidding good night Romulus slipped in the messy nest of blankets and laid his head on a pillow, which immediately sent him into a pleasant sleep. Lovino scowled at his father's comment but lost this intimidating look as a yawn crept out of his mouth, forcing him to retreat into his premade cocoon. Kiku rolled away from the scene with a skeptical look drawn out on his face at the thought of wishing stars, especially grown men believing in wishing stars. He didn't think that the idea wasn't nice; just impractical, and after affirming the thought with a polite nod Kiku let his eyes slowly droop close, savoring that momentary peace before unconsciousness. But the cricket was soon reminded of the other ritual the workshop performed, and that was the unbelievably infuriating tick tocks of the clocks. Each one beating at its own pace; filling the quiet pause of the other, until every second they counted contained a clonk. The noises pounded severely on his already throbbing head; their musical taps stepped on the sensitive parts of his inner ear and rang, echoing the previous verse. This was too much. On the nights before he would pardon their disruption, but he wasn't going to stand for it tonight. And despite the absurdity of the act; Kiku heaved in a deep breath of air and shouted authoritatively, "Quiet!"

After the abrupt and uncharacteristic yell from the normally reserved creature curiously enough the clocks obeyed his command and froze, jarringly cutting their clanking. Kiku was shocked himself as his order was so diligently followed. Then his heavy head fell like lead onto the makeshift pillow, and an inching smile hovered on his face for a brief moment of silence before wilting into an irked frown from the entrance of a pale blue light that softly glowed. But when the cricket launched himself out of the matchbox to investigate this abnormal brightness, he tactfully retreated behind a nearby candlestick for the brilliant light morphed, condensing into the silhouette of a woman, and dimming until the girl was only clothed in the light emitted by the small frying pan she held. Kiku shakily poked his head out from behind his hiding place to observe the intruder as she waltz over to the sleeping Romulus and happily informed the unconscious man in a hushed voice, "Romulus Vargas; you aren't the most hard-working human I've ever seen, but whatever you do make brings much happiness to others. And tonight I think you deserve some yourself, so I-"

"Stop right there!" An angry voice that bore an accent hailing from England interjected, halting the woman's speech.

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><p><strong>AN: **So there you have it, I've taken TheWonderBunny's Disney Mania Challenge! Now I know that this is a really long chapter, and the protagonist hasn't even appeared. That's because I couldn't resist including Antonio, and the only reason he's here is because while I was doing research, I found out that in the original Pinocchio story a carpenter named Antonio finds the log that is to become Pinocchio. What a coincidence, right? And as for Rome's human name; from what I know (Which isn't much at all) he doesn't have an official one, so I guessed that one of his founders' names would do. Also sorry for not being super faithful to Disney's version, but I hope my attempt is interesting enough. By the way,** Disclaimer:** I own nothing!

Peace~! -MagnifiedSun


	2. The Blue and Green Faerie

**No Strings Attatched- The Blue and Green Faerie**

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><p><em>"When you get in trouble and you don't know right from wrong<em>

_Give a little whistle! Give a little whistle!_

_When you meet temptation and the urge is very strong_

_Give a little whistle! Give a little whistle!"_

She and Kiku swerved their heads towards the ball of bright green light falling in through the opened window. It quickly proceeded to change as the previous brightness had; but this time the transformation yielded a man with messy blonde hair and dense eyebrows whose eyes maintained the emerald light from earlier, clutching onto a star-studded wand which was also giving off a faint glow. He stomped up to the mysterious women; whose voice was echoing in the small creature's head, and now triggered the remembrance of the laughter no one but him had noticed earlier. They were the same voice, the same woman, Kiku was positive of it! As he reveled in his discovery; the man jabbed an extended index finger at her, continued his fuming speech and angrily lectured, "You've no right to that wish Elizabeta-!"

"Sh! …Do you not see that they are sleeping? You have got to keep your voice down Arthur." The woman, apparently Elizabeta, shushed and warned in a hushed voice of her own as she brought a finger to her puckered lips. Arthur didn't receive being interrupted in the middle of his own scolding to be ordered around himself well, but he followed her advice with a snobbish huff before resuming the lecture and irritably reprimanded, "Like I said, you've no right to grant the wish. The boy made it before Romulus and on my star-!"

"But it would seem that I have arrived before you, therefore the wish is mine to grant." Elizabeta coolly objected again, ignoring the deepening lines on Arthur's scowled face.

"The only reason you got here first is because you were staking out this place all evening, you bloody stalker!" Arthur exasperatedly argued, his whispering dipping in and out of an appropriate hushness to be considered quiet. With this fact brought up Elizabeta presented her frying pan in full view of the Brit, waving it warningly in front of his paling face seen under its blue glow. Kiku warily poked his head out from behind his hiding place as he watched these events unfold; gaining confidence with each part of him that inch out of the candlestick's protective shadow, but just when the cricket was about to step fully into the dim light casted off by the strangers' odd implements a sudden retort from Arthur sent him running back further into the darkness. The man had lightly shoved Elizabeta's pan aside; raising his own childish wand defensively and then he snapped at her in an uneasy stutter, "N-no! I won't let you bully your way into taking my wish."

With no answer from the woman Arthur's wand trembled under the heavy silence, but his hand steadied as a warm maternal smile graced her lips that was even gentle enough to bring the quivering Kiku out from hiding. Elizabeta stepped to the side; clearing a path toward the marionette puppet, which Arthur proudly strolled to with Elizabeta close behind. Kiku shook away his fears and followed the two to Feliciano, traveling along the clocks and knick-knacks until he was on the self above the puppet in question. Elizabeta leaned up against the workbench with an expectant air about the woman as she crossed her arms and legs, looking between her counterpart and the marionette. Arthur drew in a nervous breath as he lifted his wand to begin the spell. After failing to speak the incantation through his gaping mouth Arthur thoroughly cleared his throat and wiped the still beads of sweat on his sweltering bushed face; then with one last anxious preparing breath and a peek at the slightly annoyed Elizabeta out of the corner of his eye he said the enchantment with a mystic tone, "Little puppet made of pine… wake! The gift of life is thine."

With a tender tap of his wand on the tip of the puppet's wooden nose a glimmer of the same bright green light appeared. The glow radiated over and within the marionette, igniting life and liberating it from the shackling strings that where once attached to the puppet. When the light shrunk into itself, extinguishing its shine, Feliciano blinked his amber eyes curiously a couple of times as the world brightened into view from the perpetual black bleakness he had only known before. Then after noticing the strings tied to him had been cut; he stiffly moved his arms, shaking them out until their movements were fluid. Feliciano continued the investigation of moving by tucking his feet underneath him and wobbly stood up before falling and catching himself on the wall. Even though this first attempt at walking was a failure, the mistake still held a sense of pride that shined in his eyes whenever he held his gaze opened. Pushing himself from the wall, Feliciano rocked back and forth between each foot until he stood firm like the tree he had originated from. After stumbling through his first few steps Feliciano was parading as he waltz on top of the workbench; in his excitement he unconsciously found himself 'veh'ing happily and then exclaimed excitedly, "Veh…I can move. And I can talk too!"

"Of course you can, you bloody twit! You think I can't do a simple anthropomorphism spell?" Arthur irritably lashed out at the living puppet; who was undeserving of his misplaced rage, but once he realized it Feliciano was fleeing into Elizabeta's arms and crying about how scary Arthur was. Kiku was simply drawn back in amazement after witnessing a real spell being performed in front of his very eyes, and he scribbled a mental note to be less skeptical of the super natural from then on. Elizabeta successfully calmed the marionette puppet with lulling whispers and comforting strokes, smoothing the hair on the back of his head. Once Feliciano dug his face out of Elizabeta's dress; and his whimpering was reduced to the occasional hiccup, he smeared his sniffling nose against his sleeve and snuffed back any spare drips of runny mucus. Feliciano shivered frightfully as he turned to look at Arthur with his pair of red, puffy eyes. With those fearful yellow orbs trembling at his presence Arthur relinquished a tired sigh, rubbing his temples in thought. The puppet imitated the gesture, curious as to why the man performed it but only accomplished in messing up his auburn hair. Elizabeta couldn't help but try and cover her adoring giggle as she attempted to maintain her composure, while Kiku had a much easier time keeping up his nearly unbreakable nondescript expression by allowing only the smallest of smiles to appear on the corner of his mouth. Arthur's stress seemed to ease away with the little puppet's antics. He leaned over to him; which startled Feliciano more at first but his scared frown soon leveled out when Arthur sported a hearty grin and politely introduced himself, "I'm sorry for frightening you Feliciano, but I was a little strained due to _somebody's _behavior. My name is Arthur-"

"Veh… Hello pretty lady, what's your name?" Feliciano asked, lightly tugging on the woman's dress and by then completely ignoring Arthur. Elizabeta bore a deeply flushed face as she tried to limit her fawning to sparse cooing, while Arthur managed to control his boiling angry by roughly pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering rambles to himself. It seemed Kiku was the only sensible observer as he spotted Lovino rustling beneath the covers; upon realizing this, the cricket uselessly flailed and fretted about but his worries calmed themselves as the boy turned out to be sleepily settling into a more comfortable position. Finally the woman had cooled her intense blushing and responded in a squeak, "I am Elizabeta."

"Veh veh! Are you the one who brought me to life? Is that your magic wand? You must be a faerie, a really pretty faerie! Veh…" Feliciano fired each statement barely seconds after the previous one, giving no room for a response and causing Elizabeta to half faint from the overexposure to his adorable curiosity. Arthur was left with his mouth widely opened; gawking at the immobilization of Elizabeta, one of the most powerful and ruthless faeries (when provoked) had just been subdued by a puppet. While he slowly recovered from the reality present, Feliciano was wailing over Elizabeta's semi-unconscious body. Kiku contemplated about whether to finally reveal himself or not, unsure if his presence would be of any help, when the tears showering on the woman's face managed to tickle her into waking up. Once she rose from the workbench, rubbing her eyes and Feliciano's tears off of her cheeks, Elizabeta starred at Arthur; slightly embarrassed but more annoyed by his astounded expression. After her glare brought the stunned man out of his speechless state; Elizabeta turned toward Feliciano, whose face was brightened with relief as his wet cheeks reflected this happiness in their shimmering sleeked surface. Then she remembered the set of questions that sent her into passing out and slowly shook her head; with a serious and mature expression Elizabeta explained, "While although I am a faerie; and this frying pan is my instrument for executing magic, I am not the one who brought you to life. Arthur did."

"Veh, really? Oh thank you Mister Arthur! _Grazie! _I can't believe I'm a real boy-" Feliciano continued cheering and thanking the man, even going as far as kissing him graciously on both sides of his face that turned a deeper red than Elizabeta's had earlier. While the rejoicing puppet kept celebrating, Arthur failed in grabbing his attention with the quiet hand he raised and his level calls. Then the Brit closed his outstretched hand into a fist, and his bushy brows creased so closely to each other that they appeared to be one. All applause from Feliciano halted with fear as he took notice of the wrinkly scowl scrunched up on Arthur's face; the expression commanded instant silence and focus from the marionette, which he shakily gave. Then the man's angry frown turned into a pained shrivel after receiving a quick jab by an elbow in his stomach from Elizabeta, but when his suspicious glance shot over to inspect her she stood idly with an innocent air that still held a dark warning if he should resume his previous conduct. Arthur sighed once again; easing Feliciano from out of his quivering huddling into a more relaxed almost lazy stand, and the man informatively stated, "No Feliciano, you aren't a real boy. To make Lovino's wish come true you must prove yourself brave, truthful and unselfish by learning to choose between right and wrong."

"Veh… that sounds really hard. How will I know?" Feliciano nervously asked, already overwhelmed by the prospect of having to accomplish such feats. The aspect of bravery frightened him most of all and thinking about knowing how to choose right from wrong just simply made his head ache.

"Your conscience will tell you." Arthur answered, losing faith in the puppet as his face contorted into a look of utter confusion as he took all of this in. When the man turned toward Elizabeta with unhopeful despair dragging onto his face, the woman ushered away his low expectations with a trusting grin as she beamed at the puzzled marionette. Kiku wasn't as easily inspired by her uplifting smile as Arthur was, and the cricket looked down with a critical curl to his lips as he watched Feliciano facially struggle against his confusion which was apparent from the changing expressions as he thought to himself. Then after a few moments more of his fidgeting he faced Arthur with a determined look that was unsettling to others when it appeared on the normally goofily happy face; but that second of the nature defying expression blinked into one of unknowing blankness as Feliciano dumbly asked, "What's a conscience?"

"I'll tell you! It's that little voice inside you that no one seems to listen to anymore." Kiku explained loudly; still keeping his unexpressive tone as he leapt from the upper self, landing on the handle of a tool hanging on the wall and from there jumping onto the workbench beside Feliciano. Arthur was taken aback with surprise when the insect abruptly entered the conversation, slipping on his stumbling footwork as he backed from the table. Elizabeta, although also shocked at the cricket's arrival, became more intrigued as he spoke to the marionette puppet; who she noted to seem more excited about than afraid of. Once Kiku finished clarifying, Feliciano widened his mouth into an awed smile that conveyed his relief and happiness of the eavesdropping cricket's intrusion that frankly left the other party unnerved. Arthur was able to dizzily pull himself from off of the floor in time to lose his balance once again as Feliciano inquired aloud, "Are you my conscience?"

"I think that's a great idea! Would you like to be Feliciano's conscience?" Elizabeta happily agreed and asked in a hopeful tone; Kiku nervously shuffled back into the wall, and once the cricket ran out of tabletop to retreat across he began to ponder about the request asked of him. Arthur rose again, holding his pounding head and accompanying his return with a few pained groans as he delicately and tentatively stroked the bumps forming on his head. With the pressure of both faeries' and Feliciano's suspended gazes Kiku averted his dull eyes but shuddered as he could still feel their sight bore into him. Then the cricket had a spark of insight; seeing this opportunity as a chance to repay the Vargas family for his freeloading, and as Kiku made up his mind he timidly nodded his head. Elizabeta and Feliciano followed the shy answer with a chorus of cheers, while Arthur moaned from the pain their loud noises spawned as they thudded against his tender head. Elizabeta tossed her long hair behind her and straightened herself before calmly commanding the cricket to kneel, which he hesitantly complied with as he sat on his knees. Then she gently brought the frying pan up to her chest and languidly questioned the insect, "What is your name?"

"Um… Kiku, milady." He unsurely answered with a courteous bow, closing his eyes in fear of having offended the now regal behaving faerie after she allowed a silent pause to pass.

"I dub you Feliciano's conscience: Lord High Keeper of the knowledge of right and wrong, counselor in moments of temptation and guide along the straight and narrow path. Arise, Sir Kiku!" Elizabeta decreed, gently resting her frying pan on each of his shoulders as she made her speech and letting him awkwardly stand at her order. During the ceremony Arthur covered his face in a set of held hands, deeming the procedure ridiculously silly and necessary. After the knighting Elizabeta lightly clapped her hands as she stifled back another series of giggles. While Feliciano incorrectly copied her action; energetically slapping his hands together, creating a booming clap. Once the marionette puppet decided to cease his jovial clapping; Arthur brought himself out of his hands and groaningly muttered, "Do you even have the authority to...? You know what on second thought, I'm not even going to bother. Now if you'll excuse, I will be off to go drink myself into oblivion. Hope you all have a pleasant evening."

"Now remember to be a good boy Feliciano and always let our conscience be your guide!" Elizabeta called, receiving a salute from the puppet that was meant to be reassuring but mainly came off as silly, before she and Arthur began their departure. They left in the same fashion they had arrived. First their bodies faded, becoming transparent ghosts of the lively faeries as each of their respective colored glows surrounded them. Then their rings of light shrunk into radiant orbs that fluttered out of the opened window, politely closing and locking it behind them. After Elizabeta and Arthur left Kiku freed the breath imprisoned inside of him and looked up to find Feliciano frozen in his saluting stance with his leg spread apart as he stood, overly holding out a puffed chest in what the puppet assumed to appear as what a brave person would do. Kiku rigidly shook his head with short, swift movements to himself before observing the marionette puppet once again. This time he had given up on the pose and sleepily rocked back and forth with his back hunched over and arms lazily hung at his side. Kiku uncertainly tapped on Feliciano's wooden shoe; poking until he had attracted his attention, and when the puppet spun around in search for the source of this disturbance Kiku made a barely audible cough. Though the small sound was enough to guide Feliciano's wondering gaze down toward the cricket; who for a moment froze under his sight but melted his tension with a hard, resolved shake of his head. Then Kiku sat down; tucking his legs under him and gently patted the table's surface in an attempt to motion Feliciano to settle himself as well, the puppet let his legs fall from underneath him as he thudded onto his bottom with both legs outstretched and an unyielding smile glued to his face. Kiku flinched after Feliciano's collapse shattered the steady and calm silence in the air; the insect fiddled with fixing his hair as a small wind was blown out when the puppet seated himself and after he firmly said, "Feliciano I think we should discuss the agreement we've just made. I will help you when you meet temptations and such, but you'll never become a real boy if I make every decision for you so when you have a question-"

Kiku's lecture quieted as Feliciano obnoxiously raised his hand, grabbing onto the arm held with his other hand as he frantically waved it in desperation and yelled out 'oh's and 'ah's meant to snatch the cricket's attention. Kiku inexpressively blinked before nodding his head, suppressing the lurking feeling sitting poorly in the pit of his stomach as he allowed Feliciano's interruption to break up his speech. The puppet lifted both hands above his head and let out a cheer at being recognized and permitted to speak; he placed a questioning finger to his pushed out and quizzical lips as his face went blank, forgetting the reason behind his disruption. Then a spark flashed inside his mind; telling all that the puppet had remember what he wanted to say from the instantaneous shift in his clueless expression to one of thrilled recollection and immediately afterwards Feliciano gleefully rambled, "Veh… uh- yes! I have a question, no wait… I think I have two. Um… what's temptation? And then… then how am I suppose to call you if I have a question?"

"Temptations are wrong decisions and desires that seem appealing and right even though they are wrong. And as far as calling me… uh- maybe you can whistle for me, like this." After his explanation Kiku gently pushed his lips out and blew through, making a light tweet that gracefully settled in the puppet's ear. Once the cricket had finished his demonstration Feliciano stuck his squished mouth out; forcing all the air in his ballooned cheeks as hard as he could through until his reddened head became too dizzy to handle, the result was an appalling sound of rushing air. Kiku quietly endured the atrocious noise without a single twitch, while Feliciano recovered from his asphyxiation by an uncontrollable series of coughs and gasping. Eventually the puppet regained a normal breathing rate, looking to his newfound conscience with a saddened and disappointed frown. Kiku was startled by his uncharacteristically glum face the puppet wore; and he tried to offer an encouraging smile, but his emotional stillness only managed to create a small undecipherable grin. Though this was enough to lift Feliciano's heavy head; displaying a contending smile that pushed away the dissatisfaction of his failure as he laughingly admitted, "Guess whistling is really tricky, just like temptations."

"Yes, maybe you should just call my name when you need my help." Kiku agreed. The prospect of a simpler method to summoning him dawned a flash of hope and elation on the puppet's gradually radiating face. With a simple and affirming nod from Kiku, Feliciano was sent into literary a frenzy of animated joyful leaps. Those jumps left poor Kiku fearfully holding onto the workbench for dear life as he suffered through quaking shakes, and his polite requests for the puppet to cease were ignored as Feliciano was fully engrossed in his playful hopping. Though his distraction left him unaware to the ledge he was unwittingly inching towards; and it was only a matter of time before Feliciano stepped off of the edge, loudly falling in a messy pile of Romulus's unfinished projects that were failed to be properly put away. The crash immediately startled Lovino into waking up, while Kiku quickly rushed over to hesitantly lean over the tabletop. The cricket spotted Feliciano cowering underneath the table; and he jumped from atop the workbench, expertly bouncing off of the stool onto the top of the puppet's head. Lovino squinted his eyes in an attempt to penetrate the darkness but had no such luck, while his irritation only grew fiercer as the boy's father had slept through the commotion. With a cruelly pleased grin Lovino dealt a swift punch to the man's arm; which effectively awoke the previously snoozing Romulus, who disapprovingly moaned at the boy through his pathetic whimpering. Lovino only rolled his eyes at this embarrassing display; and after waiting for the man to cease his infernal whining he asked in a patience driven whisper, "Didn't you hear that loud crash? Someone else is in our house moron."

"Oh no! It must be a thief, here to steal my little Feli." Romulus sounded generally worried at this point, quickly throwing the bed sheet off himself and determinedly digging through the drawer of the bedside table. Lovino put on an annoyed face as his father was frantically swiping the match he had pulled out, failing to strike it in the first few tries and kept his own secret fear of Feliciano's endangerment to himself. With the match's flame flickering on its head; Romulus lit the sagging candle on the side table's top and waved the slender piece of wood which smothered its small blaze, leaving only silk smoke to slink up into the air. After the transfer Romulus was able to peek into the ajar drawer and find an old pistol. Once he fetched the firearm Lovino had flung himself out of bed to stand by his father's side; upon noticing the gun feebly held in Romulus's grip he nervously stuttered in a surprised exclamation, "Sh-shit! Since when have we owned a gun?"

Lovino received a silencing shush from his father, after the hushing he followed behind Romulus's slow steps with his arms unhappily crossed and an angry scowl on his tomato red face. During their sluggish and uncertain approach Feliciano continued to vigorously tremble in his hiding place as he furiously wished to be spared any harm. Kiku attempted to nudge the frightened marionette puppet out and reassured him with comforting words but failed to convince him to budge; ending up with nothing else he could do, the cricket slid down Feliciano's smooth hair and landed on the puppet's shoulder. From there Kiku climbed down the sleeve of the marionette's shirt, swinging from the hanging fabric into the pocket of his trousers. The father and son cautiously searched the shop with the candlelight extended out in front as their beckon; while Romulus held the antique gun low but ready, and Lovino still partly in shock of the weapon's existence. After exploring most of the large room without any success Romulus began calling out to who he and his son thought was a thief, which was rewarded with a bop on the head from his son after Lovino first smacked himself on the forehead from his father's stupidity. When Romulus had started to speak aloud Kiku poked his head from Feliciano's pant pocket, trying to again urge the puppet into revealing himself and this time he was victorious in the battle to inspire Feliciano to respond. On the last call from Romulus and after the man received the boy's light disapproving beating Feliciano replied in an almost begging cry, "_C-ciao ciao! _I'm under here. Please don't hit me!"

'_I can't believe that actually worked. This guy must've been dropped on his head as a kid or something._' Lovino thought in his state of speechless shock while Romulus bore a smug grin at the boy's earlier doubt. Following the voice the father and son slowly crept to the workbench; after silently raising three fingers and mouthing the countdown Romulus lowered the lit candle, holding it underneath the table to unveil the shivering puppet huddled there. Feliciano tried his best to make his first impression on the two a pleasant one with a gentle and kind smile spread across his face despite his obvious quivering. The small Vargas family was initially relieved at the discovery of their intruder to be nothing but the prized puppet, though it didn't take the two long to realize the impossibility of the present situation and react to it. Lovino couldn't censor the quickly and incomprehensibly shouted stream of Italian curses that the boy broadcasted as he grabbed onto his father, pulling himself toward the man. Romulus only managed to back away a couple of steps but was cemented by shock from retreating any further; he dropped the stout candlestick, which luckily just wobbled on its flat bottom before sitting up straight on the floor, and shakily held the pistol with both sweating hands. Then Feliciano let out a terrified cry as he began to plead for mercy; silencing the puppet Romulus nervously pointed the gun closer to the marionette's blubbering face and demanded in a frightened croak, "N-now you tell me who you are, o-or I'll… I'll-"

"Feli-Feliciano! I'm Feliciano! Please you have to believe me, it's true. I can walk and talk and everything! P-please _Papà._" Romulus lowered the pistol after the marionette puppet's begging, specifically at the word _Papà_, and when the man finally let the gun fall from his slippery grasp Romulus kicked the firearm away as he placed one knee on the floor. With the lowering of his father Lovino released his hold on him and watched Romulus extend both arms to welcome the puppet into an embrace. Feliciano stilled himself from his shivering and gave a wide happily accepting smile before scampering into the opened hug. Lovino remained unconvinced as the two held one another and buried his face inside a pair of hands while trudging over to the nearby dresser with a ceramic pitcher on top filled with water, muttering to himself that this was all just a dream. He lifted himself by the tips of his toes and stretched his arms out in order to reach the jug. Once Lovino acquired his unsteady hold around its base he carefully picked it up; after stumbling back a few sloppy steps the boy balanced himself for a moment, but then he tripped over a wooden handle that had broken from one of the uncompleted works sitting in the fated pile Feliciano fell onto. Lovino tightened his grip on the pitcher as he tumbled to the floor which kept the jug from slipping away and crashing to the ground but the water inside was free to spill onto his face, fully waking him up immediately. Romulus and Feliciano cringed at the unfortunate turn of events, their sight reaching out to Lovino with signs of concern trembling in them. Lovino silently sat up to set the pitcher clenched in his hands down beside him roughly; the booming thud as he placed it hard onto the floor, and then he slowly brushed off the water dripping from his face as he dragged his hands across the skin. His eyes remained closed though as he flicked the water from his hands and rose to begin an unhurried walk over to the embracing pair. When Lovino arrived after his firm and meticulous steps; the boy took in a long and uneven breath that fluttered with suppressed rage shown on his dark red face and opened his eyes after he grumbled, "Now we'll see whose fucking dreaming…"

"Veh _fratello,_ you're funny!" Feliciano happily and bluntly dubbed as he squirmed out of his father's arms, much to the man's protesting pout, and leapt onto Lovino; hugging the surprised boy who shakily returned the favor. Suddenly Romulus scooped Lovino and Feliciano in his burly arms and wrapped the two brothers in his own hug, uniting them all. Then he started spinning in a carefree frolic; dancing all around the room and calling for a celebration as he activated every music box in the vicinity. At this point Kiku, after being nearly crushed by Romulus's arm cradling Feliciano, decided to squirm himself out of the puppet's pocket and hop onto a self the man was rushing past. The cricket landed with his gut hitting straight on the edge with both arms out in front, clawing at the flat surface. Luckily Kiku was able to pull himself up and exhaustedly roll onto his back as he panted in relived and tired gasps. Romulus hummed a cheery tune along with the mechanisms' melodies, the collection of varying chimes accumulated into a surprisingly synchronized and upbeat song. The man lifted each of his sons to the higher selves and urged them to trigger some more music boxes; Feliciano gazed in awe at the amazing devices and proudly poked one of the dusty buttons, Lovino grumpily glared at his father before rolling his eyes and shrugging at the absurdity of it all before pushing several of his favorite music boxes on. After each son took their turn Romulus gently set them back down on the floor to quickly rush off and fetch his accordion. During his absence Lovino finally noticed that the entire upper portion of his nightshirt was completely soaked, this realization brought back a taste of the boy's infamous irritable attitude with him angrily mumbling to himself as he stormed off to the dresser for a dry change of clothes. Unsupervised, Feliciano's curious wandering gaze guided him to the lit candle sitting on the ground. The flames' seductive twisting lured the puppet into trying to catch the flicker of hot light; but Feliciano was halted when a swift snap of Lovino's wrist whapped his hand against the back of the marionette's head as the older boy scolded in an annoyed yet teary tone, "Don't play with fire you idiot, you'll get burnt!"

Feliciano held his head with a tear hanging on the lid of his eye and apologetically nodded, Lovino accepted the small expression as he snatched the candle away. Then Romulus, clueless about the whole ordeal, pranced in playing his old accordion. This entrance brightened Feliciano's saddened mood; and he began dancing along with his father, soon dragging in Lovino to skip with them around the room at the end of their parading chain. Slowly the music boxes ticked away the last notes; their turning ballerinas and other decorative mechanics jarringly clicked into an ending pose and Romulus stretched the accordion, pulling the folds for a long finale. Once the man finished playing he received a hearty round of applause from Feliciano and even a light clap or two from Lovino. Romulus took an overdramatic, sweeping bow before setting the instrument on the workbench and ushering off his children to bed. Feliciano nearly sprinted to the bed and pounced onto the mattress, while the marionette puppet snuggled under the covers with Romulus lazily following in. Lovino couldn't help but try to pickup from the broken pile of woodwork as he made his way to the bed; but the boy only ended up in clearing an area just to dump the mess in a less conspicuous one, then he crawled into bed with his father and brother. Kiku, having finally recovered from his near death experience, was able to also sluggishly return to his comfortable matchbox; pulling the cloth over his head in an attempt to hide from anymore distractions that might try to call him out. Feliciano sleepily cuddled himself in between his brother and father, a satisfied smile curling onto his face from the endearing warmth he felt as he dreamingly 'veh'ed amongst his calm breathing. Lovino choose to willingly allow his grabby brother to latch onto him as he found no strength within him to fight back the affectionate puppet; the boy then folded the pillow over his ears as while Romulus was lovingly stroking Feliciano's head he sweetly cooed aloud before succumbing to the persuasive force of sleep, "And tomorrow you'll go to school with Lovi and… and learn a whole bunch of things together. Then _yawn_… you both will come home, where _Papà _will…_ Papà _will have prepared a big meal for us to eat and…"

There was an awkward pause after that, and before Feliciano drifted into the lulling silence of sleep Lovino gently poked him and whispered, "H-hey… Feli, are you really real? Like when I wake up you won't be a regular puppet again and all of this a stupid dream, right?"

"Veh! No, I still have to work really hard to become a real boy. Just like you!"

"…Th-that's good… _Buona Notte_ Feliciano" And with that he rolled over, falling into the sleep awaiting him.

"_Buona Notte_ Lovino"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Don't you just feel all fuzzy inside? Well, I do! Anyway I've been rewatching Pinocchio because I haven't seen it in forever, and it isn't as bad as I thought. Maybe that's because I'm only watching it along with what I'm writting, and I haven't gotten to any of the scary stuff yet. But I will admit I had a moment where my brain shut down. When Geppetto wakes up from Pinocchio falling into a bunch of crap he pulls a freaking gun out from under his pillow! Geppetto, an elderly man, is packing heat! He has the ability to bust a cap in my ass... Is your mind not blown? I find that hillarious yet at the same time disturbing. And sorry for not writting in the scene where Pinocchio sets fire to his finger, but this was getting really long. And don't say you didn't want to see that because you're human and such dark humor amuses us! C'mon that's like the only thing I remembered from the movie before doing this... Or maybe something is really, **really **wrong with me... I-I have to do some serious thinking. I'll go sit in that corner over there; and you all can send reviews, okay? Okay...

This is MagnifiedSun, who may or may not require therapy, sayin'...

Peace~! -MagnifiedSun (And yes I know this is a little redundant)


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